Early years

Alfonso de
Albuquerque was born at Allandra , near Lisbon in Portugal in 1453. He was the
second son of Gonzallo de Albuquerque, the Lord (Senhor) of Villa Verde. His
family, both on his maternal and paternal sides had served the Kings of Portugal
with distinction. Coming of age, he served for about 10 years in North Africa
gaining valuable experience fighting the Muslims under King Afonso V. He was
soon made "Master of the Horse" by King John II. After Vasco
da Gama's discovery
of a sea route to India around the Cape of Good Hope in 1498, saw the race to
create new trading opportunities and to colonize and to convert.

The first Voyage to India

King
Manuel, sent Pedro Clavares to begin trade with the Indian king Zamorin
in Calicut. The muslim traders resented the Portuguese but the neighboring Hindu kingdom of Cochin invited the
Portuguese and the first step to conduct
trade was established. Alfonso de Albuquerque made his first voyage to India in
1503 along with his cousin Dom Francisco da Alameda to create the first Portuguese
fortress cum trading post at Cochin and then Quilon. He returned to
Lisbon 1504. In 1505 King Manuel then appointed Dom Francisco Alameda , the
first Portuguese governor of India with a rank of Viceroy.

In 1506 Alfonso de
Albuquerque sailed with Tristan de Cunha to India; his job was to secure the sea
route for the Portuguese to monopolize trade with India. For that purpose he
captured the Island of Socotra, and then the Island of Ormuz at the mouth of the
Red Sea landing there on 10 October, 1507.He subsequently built a fortress
there, the aim being to control the mouth of the Red Sea, the gateway to all sea
trade at that time. By the time he arrived in India in 1508, his cousin
Francisco Alameda had defeated the Kingdom of Calicut in a sea battle. When the
Viceroy of India, Francisco de Almeida, returned to Portugal, 1509, Albuquerque
was appointed in his place, without the rank of the Viceroy. Albuquerque, in an
attempt to secure a stronger hold , fought and lost to the Kingdom of Cochin in
January, 1510. He then decided to go north along the coast and decided on Goa,
then ruled by Sultan Adil Shah of Bijapur.

Capture of Goa

With the help of an Indian sea
captain called Timoja and with 23 ships, he attacked Goa in March 1510. He had to
abandon it two months later after being pushed out by Adil Shah's forces. He returned again and on November 25th (St. Catherine's Day ) he took the place
again, and it thereafter remained under the Portuguese until 1961. His conquest of Goa saw wanton death and destruction of its muslim institutions and people.
Securing Goa, Albuquerque then turned his attention to the Far East and took
Malacca in July, 1511. To prevent other nations from trading with India, he
created a licensing system and also attempted unsuccessfully to take over Aden,
on the Red Sea in March 1513. He then returned to India and finally defeated the
Kingdom of Calicut, his then main opposition in India.

The betrayal

In 1515 he left Goa
again for the straits of Ormuz, but had to return back to Goa due to ill
health. Meanwhile King Emmanuel of Portugal had other ideas for him. For reasons
not very clear, the King appointed Lopes Suarez to supersede him. Learning this
news on the ship of what he considered an act of betrayal by his King pained him
immensely. Heartbroken, sick and on his death bed he pined and died just as his
ship "Flor de Rosa" reached the shores of Goa, on 16 December, 1515.

Fifty-one years later his remains were transported to Lisbon for a final
more worthy resting place.